


Fall

by Mislav



Series: Season eleven [1]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Case Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-13 00:31:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4500882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mislav/pseuds/Mislav
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My version of season eleven premiere. The last days of two week summer break end when the team has to investigate a case that could place their families in danger. Case!fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I don't own any of ths Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.
> 
> This is just the idea that I had had for quite some time, anc now I think that it would make for a decent season eleven premiere. I am probably wrong but oh well. I admit that I was disappointed with most of the season ten and I hope that the writers will provide us with an engaging and exciting new season.
> 
> Dorian is a red haired special agent from Rock Creek Park. At least, on IMDb she is listed under that night.
> 
> Cast
> 
> Hill Harper as Lou Rivers
> 
> Kaitlin Olson as Kelly Grey
> 
> Cristin Milioti as Mandy Monk
> 
> Dylan Bruno as Johnny Awake
> 
> Laura Spencer as Kaley Green
> 
> Jeremy Jordan as Eric Smith
> 
> Beth Riesgraf as Hillary Truby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.
> 
> This is just the idea that I have had for quite some time, and now I think that it would make for a decent season eleven premiere. I am probably wrong but oh well. I admit that I was disappointed with most of the season ten and I hope that the writers will provide us with an engaging and exciting new season.
> 
> Dorian is a red haired special agent from "Rock Creek Park". At least, on IMDb she is listed under that name.
> 
> Cast
> 
> Hill Harper as Lou Rivers
> 
> Kaitlin Olson as Kelly Grey
> 
> Cristin Milioti as Mandy Monk
> 
> Dylan Bruno as Johnny Awake
> 
> Laura Spencer as Kaley Green
> 
> Jeremy Jordan as Eric Smith
> 
> Beth Riesgraf as Hillary Truby

Rossi took one last look in the mirror before heading toward the door. But once again, Joy stood in his way, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, still containing wood dust due to some furniture repair works he had helped her with.

"You did right, taking up on my advice to try a T-shirt for once", she said with a coy smile.

David grinned. "Don't expect me to wear it every... month. Or to get read of my beard."

Joy chuckled, eventually looking up with him with slight sadness in her eyes. "Are you sure that you can't stay for a while?", she asked.

David cringed. "I'm sorry, duty calls." He shrugged. "Summer break is officially over."

He placed a kiss on her cheek before walking through the door, toward his car, inhaling the slowly disappearing smell of the summer.

#

Spencer couldn't help but move from one foot to another nervously while standing at the gate to the local movie theater with Dorian, in a sadly small line mostly filled with very young or very old people. The weather was nice and relaxing though. He was looking around, trying to find something to occupy him while waiting, and while doing so accidentally met her gaze, surprised upon seeing her blush at the exchange.

"Unfortunately, matinees of 1970 Russian movies are really rare in this city", he blurted out, making her smile. He didn't know why, he just felt like he needed to say something and end the silence for some reason.

"A real shame", Dorian agreed, staring longingly at the gate. At first, Spencer didn't even notice when she held his hand.

And that is when his phone rang.

He quickly pulled it out of his pocket and answered the call, gently slipping away.

It only lasted for a few seconds, but left nothing to bargain.

"I'm sorry", he apologized, trying to hide a frustration in his voice. "It looks like I will have to miss this one."

#

Derek woke up naked in his bed, covered with the bed sheet to waist up, very late in the morning, due to a sound of his ringtone going off. He read the text just at the moment Savannah sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes, holding the other part of the sheet over her chest.

"Please tell me that you don't have to go to work", she moaned.

Derek smiled. "Hey, the last morning it was you. Laws of nature."

She giggled, though groaning silently, before he placed a kiss on her lips and went to the bathroom.

#

JJ was kneeling in front of the bathtub, only wearing her T-shirt and old shorts, just finishing with bathing Henry (finally), when Will walked into the room, her phone in hand, instantly getting splashed over the face with some water.

"JJ, it's for you."

#

Within five minutes of arriving to the headquaters, everyone was gathered in the conference room, sitting around the table. Aaron was pacing around the room, in front of the screen, with a remote in his hand. He looked unusually nervous, almost scared, but everybody decided not to question it. He handled them the files and stood to the side, preparing himself for the gruesome presentation.

"The Rivers family was murdered here in Quantico", he announced before clicking at the remote. A photograph of a smiling Afrcan American family appeared on the screen: father and mother in early forties, and two sons. "Mother, Jenny Rivers, and two sons, Rick, age seventeen, and Kyle, age eleven." Another click. The first crime scene photograph appeared on the screen: a chilling contrast to the previous image. All family members, except for the father, were laying face down on the kitchen floor, gunshot wounds to the back of their heads. "They had all been shot once in the back of the head with Glock 9mm. No match in IBIS. Another family, Grey, had been murdered a week later. Father, Samuel, thirty seven, and a daughter, Rachel, nine. Both shot to death with a Glock 9mm: the mother once in the back of the head, the daughter once in the heart. Ballistics proved that the same gun had been used. Both parents have alibies, GSR test negative."

"All the victims had their wrists binded with flex cuffs, except for the youngest child", JJ noted, grimacing as she looked at the crime scene photographs. "No valuables missing."

"The autopsies are still in progress, but judging by the preliminary reports, none of the victims were sexually assaulted or tortured", David chimmed in, going through the file.

"No signs of breaking in either", Spencer noticed. "Unusual."

Aaron took a deep breath, like he was making a courage to do something. He looked at his colleagues with a stern look on his face and said, carefully: "Lou Rivers, the father, and Kelly Grey, the mother, are both FBI agents." He continued before being able to see the other's reaction. "They had been absent from the residence at the time the murders had taken place and they had been left unharmed. There are no valuables missing, except for Jenny's and Samuel's wedding rings. Probably trophies."

He gulped, fondling his hands together. A nauseating silence remained in a room for quite some time. Everyone was just looking at Hotch, as hoping that the whole thing would somehow turn out to be a mistake, but that wasn't happening. "This isn't good", David sighed, sinking lower into his chair.

"This guy is targeting the families of FBI agents?", JJ exclaimed, still trying to wrap her mind around that.

"It appears so", Hotch confirmed, sounding unsettled.

Spencer frowned, trying to calm himself down. "I wonder how he had gained access to the needed information", Spencer pointed out. "Most of FBI agents don't even have their addresses listed in the phone book."

"The tech control checked. There had been no hack attacks into our systems", he said, as that was supposed to be at least some relief.

"They are only calling us in after the second familicide?", David asked, perplexed.

"Lou was away in New York, involved in an undercover drug investigation. He wasn't allowed to contact his family during his stay there", Aaron explained. "The schools are mostly still closed in the area due to construction works, the classes are scheduled to begin on September 25th. The house was on a relatively isolated area, with a great distance between the murders. Lou had found them late yesterday afternoon upon returning home: ME estimated that they had been dead for about a week." JJ gulped. Derek took a sip of water. The air was feeling unusually thick in the room. "A few hours later, Kelly found her family dead after returning home from work late. It didn't take long for the police departments to link the cases and call us in."

"Lou had been receiving threatening phone calls and letters to his home during the last month", Derek read. There is even a small team working on finding, though they still aren't close."

"There was a police protection present for some time, but it was eventually called off, to his request", Spencer noted. He leaned back into his chair and rubbed his chin. "That's odd."

"Things hadn't been working so great for Kelly either", JJ pointed out, going through the file. "According to the information in this file, she was shot non fatally two months ago. She had returned to work a week prior to the murders, temporarily desk job.."

"We can't take any chances", Aaron said, sounding as serious as ever. Everyone in the room looked at him. "You and your families, even the ones outside the city, will be issued a police protection immediately. And now, we are immediately heading to the murder scenes."

They all sighed and exchanged glances of the discomfort as they stood up and headed to the hallway, with the files in hand.

#

The unsub stretched out in front of the writing desk, sighing in the process. The signt of the scrap book laying opened on the desk was thrilling for the killer. Photographs of those families, notes about their habits. Pale, slim fingers tightened around the tape recorder before pressing at the "Play" button with the mixture of a dread and thrill.

"What are you most afraid of?", a gentle man's voice asked, as heard on the tape.

No answer. Just a sigh. A woman's sigh.

It is then that the unsub catches a news report playing on a near by radio.

"FBI still hasn't made a statement about allegations of two families associated with their agents getting murdered..."

That soon faded into the background, like an unnecessary repeat. Male voice, on the tape again.

"It is okay, you can tell me."

Short silence. The recording of a soft female voice filled the cold room.

"Of waking up and finding my family dead.".

~OPENING ROLES AND CREDITS~


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.

JJ: ~The world will give you that once in a while, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.~ Sue Monk Kidd JJ kept one eye on the possible curious passers by as she was talking to Will over her smartphone, with her back turned to the near by interrogation room. "Believe me, Will, everything will be okay", she whispered.

"Okay?", Will cried. "You do understand that some madman is murdering the families of the people in your profession?"

"Police protection is on their way. They will stay there until we catch that guy."

"Man...", Will groaned. A short silence ensued. "OK. But come straight home from work! Or better yet, I will come to pick you up."

JJ chuckled. "Knowing Hotch, we will all probably have police officers escort us to our homes." Will let out a similar sound, though it was more of a slightly relived sigh. "Don't worry, OK? You know that we always find those guys, and that it doesn't take us long. Everything will be fine."

"I love you", he whispered.

"I love you too", JJ said warmly before clicking at the "End" icon and shoving the phone down her pocket. She caught a sight, through the glass door, of Lou Rivers sitting on the couch in an interrogation room, eyes watery and hair a mess, hands clasped tightly together. She took a deep breath, feeling a strange sort of chill rush through her body, before pressing at the door knob and walking inside the room, closing the door behind.

It was only after she was about to sit on a near by armchair that was in front of the couch that Lou looked up at her, seemingly only then registering her presence. His lips were quivering, as he was ready to break down and cry at any moment. JJ felt herself shiver as she offered him her hand.

"Hi, mr. Rivers." They shook hands. "I'm special agent Jennifer Jeareu, I have to interview you regarding what happened... to your family."

Lou nodded his head and muttered something that she couldn't understand, then looked down at the floor. JJ gulped before pulling out a notepad and a pen from her pocket and thinking over the first planned question before speaking up.

"Do you have any idea who was sending you those threats?", JJ asked, tapping with her pen against the notepad.

Lou looked up at her, his jaw clenched and his sad eyes suddenly filled with rage. "If I had known, I would have said something! Then maybe none of this would ever happen!"

"Did you notice anything or anyone strange around your house since the threats started coming, or before you went out on an assignment? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"No, I don't think so", he answered after a short thinking.

"Think, mr. Rivers. This could be important."

"I said I don't know!", Lou snapped, jerking his head up as his cry echoed through the room. JJ shuddered, her hands gripping at the arm rests. He was staring at her for some time, his eyes wide and cold, before he closed his eyes tightly and buried his face in his hands, lowering his head. JJ leaned closer carefully, feeling her throat go dry.

"I'm sorry", Lou mumbled, breathing heavily. "Just..." The only thing that managed to leave his lips was sobbing.

"It's OK, mr. Rivers", JJ mused softly. "Everything will be OK."

"A car. There was a car parked near by... I haven't seen it before. I thought that maybe somebody was visiting my neighbors."

"Can you describe it?", JJ asked.

"No. I'm sorry... I can't remember."

"You can. Just close your eyes, lean back and try to relax."

Lou did so, albeit looking reluctant. JJ waited for some time, making sure that he called down enough, then started.

"When did you leave?"

Lou frowned, his eyes closed. "At... at seven am."

"What was the first thing you saw upon leaving the house."

A short silence ensued. Drops of sweat were running down Lou'a forehead, his frown increasing. "My... my neighbor's house."

"How does it look like?"

He leaned toward slightly. "Three stores. White facade. Nice yard."

JJ waited for some time before asking the next question. "Where was the car?""

Lou opened his mouth right away, but didn't answer until a few seconds later. "About ten feet away."

"When did you see it?"

"Uhm... after making... two steps towards my drive way."

JJ leaned back in her seat, observing Lou carefully. "How did it look like?"

He was clenching his fists, groaning silently. "Think", JJ encouraged him. "Try to remember."

"Blue... blue SUV." His eyes flew open, a look on his face then turning stern. "It was a blue SUV. I don't remember the licence plates or the driver."

"Are you sure?", JJ asked silently.

"I am sure."

JJ smiled slightly. "You did good", she said before writing the information down. Lou sighed, sinking back into the couch.

"Mr. Rivers, sorry to ask you this, but why did you call the police protection off?"

Lou shivered, rubbing his eyes. "I... that was stupid of me. Rick was complaining about not being able to hang out with his friends as freely as he used to, the threats stopped for a week... I thought that everything was going to be okay. That the worst was over." It wasn't long before he started sobbing again.

#

David and Spencer were walking around the River's famy dining room, with latex gloves over their hands and booties over their shoe bottoms. Most of the things were intact. They knew that something in there could help us find out how exactly the murder had taken place or even find the unsub.

"Local police realized that they will probably have to call us, so they still didn't have the forensics pick everything up", Spencer explained. "They did take photographs though."

David sighed. "They were right, there are no traces of breaking in. No broken glass, no damage to the locks. Most of the windows and doors are locked from inside."

"Lou said that, when he found his family dead, the front door was unlocked, the alarm was turned off and all the curtains were on", Spencer remembered.

"Crime scene photographs support that claim", David confirmed. "According to the records, the alarm was last used at seven pm. Somebody turned it off."

Spencer was looking around the dining room for a while before setting his sights on the dining room table, that had three plates on them, containing mostly chicken and pasta. One of the chairs was laying on the floor. "Since they had been dead for a week, determining the almost exact time of death was impossible, but it looks like they had been ambushed during dinner time", Spencer deduced.

"He was smart enough to pick up the shell casings", David commented, looking at the floor.

"There is a bullet hole in the ceiling here", Spencer noted, looking up at the ceiling.

David continued walking around the dining room before stopping a few inches away from the dining room table, examining the glass fragments on the floor near by and a stain on the wall carefully.

"A broken vase, smashed against the wall", David noted, looking at the broken glass and small flowers laying on the floor near the kitchen wall.

Spencer glanced at it, then started studying family photographs on the walls, some of which had been taken in the kitchen. "Judging by the family photographs, it would usually lay on the dining room table."

David was pacing around the room, thinking hard. "So, the mother did try to fight back, despite the gun."

Spencer walked back to the front door, then stood still for a moment, like he was rethinking something. He then walked through the hallway, slowly, eyes scanning every corner, and back into the dining room. "But why only in the dining room? Why not activate the alarm again?", he asked. "Or grab the umbrella in the hallway?"

"Because they trusted him", David concluded, turning to face Spencer. "Let him inside. It was only in the dining room that he started carrying out his plan." He frowned, running his hand through his hair. "But why there?"

Spencer once again turned his attention to the dining room table. He was looking at the plates, food, position of the furniture... and it all fell into place. "Because he needed the youngest child to help him gain the control over the situation", he eventually concluded, an excited look appearing on his face. He walked closer to the table, followed by David, and pointed at one of the plates. "Look. Spaghetti with little hot dogs while the other two were having fried chicken with pasta." He bent over and picked up a small device that had been laying under the table. "And a gameboy on the floor."

"The chair in front of it was knocked to the ground", David noted. He paid a closer attention to the chair at the front of the table, but noticed nothing important. He then started examining the chair at the right corner of the table. He noticed a phone on the floor, bent over and picked it up. Spencer walked over to him, intrigued by the discovery. David was going through the phone's content: photographs, text messages, address book.

"The older son, was probably sitting here. This appears to be his phone. I found it on the floor under the table near the chair." He took a look at that area again and noticed one other thing on the floor. "Together with a small kitchen knife."

David suddenly remembered something. He handed the phone to Spencer, then went through the case file laying on the table and showed Spencer the photograph of Kyle's body.

"Look at the bindings. They are sufficient, but not very strong. And knots appear to be clumisily made."

"Strange for the otherwise organized crime scene", Spencer pointed out.

David quickly went through the file and stopped after finding the preliminary autopsy report. They both skimmed through it, stopping at times to look at the photographs of Kyle's body. "Wait...", David hissed. "The only other injuries found on Kyle, except for the gunshot wound, were fresh scratch marks on the inner side of his fingers and palms, fresh bruise on his right temple and fresh bruises on his shoulders and neck."

"Look", Spencer said, pointing at the photograph of Kyle's body. "Kyle wasn't binded or gagged, he was shot a few feet away from the rest of his family." He then pointed at the photograph of Rick's and Jenny's body. "And Jenny's right leg is laying on the top of Rick's right one."

"Now the whole thing makes sense."

Spencer walked over to the place where bodies were found. There were still pools of blood on the floor and blood splatters on the wall. "The unsub somehow convinces the mother to let him inside after she turns the alarm off. He appears non threatening."

David turned toward the dining room table, trying to visualise the events in his head. "As soon as he locates the younger child, he grabs him, pulling him into his grip."

Spencer also resumed that position. "The mother screams, throws the vase at the unsub while he is pulling her child away, but misses. The older brother grabs the knife and pulls out his phone. The unsub manages to get a hold of the younger son and point a gun to his head after shooting at the ceiling. He orders the mother and the older son to drop everything that they are doing, not to try to fight back and do as he says, or he will shoot him."

It was then that David walked over to the bloody part of the room, pointing with his finger on the blood on the floor and the walls. "By his orders, they walk into the corner and lie down on their knees, facing their backs to the unsub. They lay their arms on their back. The unsub gives flex cuffs and cloths to Kyle and forces him, at gunpoint, to bind his mother's and brother's wrists and gag them."

Spencer turned his attention to the smaller blood pool, the one further away from the other two. "As soon as he finishes, the unsub shoots him once in the back of the head, killing him instantly. No bindings, no warning." He turned his attention to the last two pools. "He then kills Rick the same way. Jenny is trying to break free, maybe even tries to stand up. He murders her too, she falls face down on the floor and her leg falls on top of Rick's."

"In a way, you could say that the oldest family member got it the worst", David said before he and Spencer exchanged a look.

#

Aaron and Derek walked into a small room on the fifth floor, consistent of one big writing desk with several high quality computers, printers, scanners and the phone on it. The only people in the room were a young man with the eyeglasses who was sitting at the desk, studying some files, and a young dark haired woman who greeted them and shook their hands. She introduced herself as Mandy Monk and led them towards the writing desk. The young man introduced himself as Andy, a voice analysisand expert. They had another member that wasn't present at the moment.

"So, you are the team in charge of tracking down the Rivers family stalker?", Aaron checked on them.

"Yes", Mandy confirmed. I am a handwriting expert and am currently taking courses in forensic lingustic." She sat at the table and, after several clicks on the keyboard, photographs of the letters appeared on the screen. "He has the patience required to cut out every sentence, sometimes letters that he uses to compose the sentence, glued it all to the piece of paper and compose a letter like that", Mandy concluded, eyes glued to the screen. She then zoomed in on the several most recent letters.

"However, as you can see, as the times go on, the cut points become messier, the sentences, visiually, aren't well lined up." She zoomed in on one of the envelopes. "And the pressure of the pen on an envelope is growing stronger and stronger."

"He is losing control", Derek concluded.

Mandy zoomed in on the address written on the envelope. "There is a slight smear leaning to the right on all of the addresses written, meaning that whoever wrote them down is left handed. That and the writing style and the visiual appearence of the letters suggests that the only one person had issued all of the threats. Since some of the phrases used in a phone calls matched to the ones used in the letters, the same person is likely behind the phone calls too. Unfortunately, the handwriting isn't specific enough for a full handwriting analysis. However, you can see hesitation marks."

"The letters sound all but hesitant", Derek noted.

"Maybe he doesn't know the address. He has it written somewhere else and he has to look at it a few times before writing it."

"So, not somebody close to the family." "Thought now we still have to find out had he gained access to it."

"Andy said, walking over to them and opening an audio file on one of the closest computers. The call was brief and the man on the other side of the room had a muffled voice.

"The caller did a good job with disguising his voice, but I was able to conclude that whoever made this call is a Caucasian man likely raised in the USA, in this state, between ages of thirty and fifty."

"The calls were all made from different disposable cellphones and neither lasted long enough for the exact location to be pinpointed", Aaron said, remembering the information that he had read in the police report.

"All purchased in a small stores throughout the city, paid for in cash. No security cameras, nobody remembers the buyer", Derek then added.

Aaron felt his stomach sink. "Lou had been working in an FBI division specialized for sex crimes for fifteen years. Who knows who decided to go after his family."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, I had a writer's block with this one. And I've edited the second chapter and added a quote at the beginning like they do on the show.

Kelly Grey's home was especially domestic looking, all the more worse contrast to the disturbing murder scene. Spencer was standing in the kitchen, looking around, smiling sadly at Rachel's "artworks" plastered all over the refrigerator door.

"Lou is back at his home with some technical experts", David answered, coming back from the hallway, his phone still in hand. "They are wired to both his home phone and a cellphone. Maybe the stalker will call him again."

"Doubtful, since he hadn't for a week after the murders", Spencer pointed out.

David shrugged. "Well, we still don't know for sure if he is the killer. If anything, he might have seen something that could help us. And even if he is responsible, there can still be reasons for him to wait. Maybe he wanted Lou to discover the bodies on his own, unexpectedly."

"Though that still doesn't explain the second family. Or how had he found them in the first place", Spencer added, then looked around. "There aren't any listening devices, hidden cameras... they even checked the air vents and shower drains. I know that Lou must have solved a lot of cases by now, but the answer could be in his record. We should concentrate on the ones recently released, the ones who had issued threats during the imvestigation or the trial and the ones that had received especially harsh sentences."

David walked over to the living room, having noticed something unusual on the floor near the couch. He stepped forward and saw a bowl of popcorn on the floor, some of the content spilled on the carpet. He looked at the TV: the screen was mostly black, but DVD logo kept moving up and down, from left to right.

"Once again, the struggle started deeper in the house. The husband and the daughter were watching the movie together when the father let the killer in. He assured his dominance here."

They both climbed up the stairs, feeling uncomfortable as they opened the door with Rachel written on it. A smell of gunshot residue was still present in the room. There was a large pool of blood on the bed, which Spencer studied closer as he walked over to it.

"She was found here", David said. "On the bed in her room."

"Easy to find, her name written on the door", Spencer noted. "Also, he had probably been stalking them too." He looked around, his gaze stopping on the staircase as he frowned.

"Preliminary autopsy report revealed fresh scratch marks on her heels", he remembered as David looked down the staircase too. "She had been dragged upstairs."

David turned to face Spencer. "But yet, there are no other apparent injuries on the body and nothing under her fingernails."

Spencer stood in front of the bed, going over the details of the case in his mind. "A single gunshot wound to the chest, close range. Killed her instantly." He leaned over, examining the blood stains on the bed sheet closely. He was surprised upon noticing a whole in the middle of red discoloration mark, with powder burns around. "Bullet hole in the sheet. She had been covered first, then shot."

"Sounds like remorse", David concluded. "Maybe Rachel reminded the killer of somebody close to him or he knew the family."

Spencer stood up straight and ran his hand through his hair. "There are no overlapping factors between the surviving family members and families as a whole though." He started walking around the room. "Different FBI divisions, ages, neighborhoods. They claim they had never met."

"We better search the master's bedroom."

The master's bedroom was strangely simplistic: a king sizee bed in the middle, a closet on the left and two writing desks on the right. Sprncer was examining the content of the closet while David was reading a date planer on the wall.

"Clothing of two different sizes in the closet: S and X", he exclaimed before studying one of the blouses closely. "Kelly's and Samuel's", he concluded.

David carefully examined the surface of the bed, then listed up the bed sheet and examined both sides. "The bed neatly set up, but the top bed sheet and both pillows are wrinkled over all of the surface." He took a step backward and sighed. "It looks like a happy marriage."

"A wedding photograph on the bedside table", Spencer noted as he closed the closet door.

"Two writing desks", David noticed, walking down the room. "Two computers."

"We should get those to Garcia."

"This one was probably Kelly's", David concluded after picking up the small box laying on the desk, opening it and seeing a pair of ear rings inside. He closed it, put it back on the table and started going through the drawers.

David glared at Samuel's writing desk, then looked around, his sight dripping ar the air vent on the wall above. He frowned, which Spencer noticed. "What's wrong?", he asked.

To his surprise, instead of answering, David climbed up on the chair and examined the air vent closely, then bend over and picked up one of the pens from the cup on the desk. "There are some scuff marks on the wall around the air vent", he explained as he began removing them using a pen. "And traces of ink on the screws. Like somebody had been taking it off and putting it back on a lot lately." After loosening the grind, he carefully removed it and put it down on a writing desk, then reached inside, fimbling a little before pulling out the objects hidden inside.

"Another phone", Spencer exclaimed. David climbed down on the floor and tried unlocking it, but his face soon turned a soar look. He was holding a pager in another hand.

"It is password protected", he read. He and Spencer exchanged a look. "It could take a while to gain access to the information on it."

"David, are you afraid?", Spencer suddenly asked.

David turned to meet Spencer's eyes, unsure of what to say at first. Spencer's look was a mixture of curiosity, shame... and fear. "Of course I am", David eventually admitted, his own voice shivering. "That's normal."

"I guess every job has it's sacrificies and consequences", Spencer whispered, looking away. "Though they aren't usually this severe."

Derek sighed and looked down at the mysterious idom in his hand. "Still, I can't imagine myself doing anything else."

Spencer shivered, feeling the same thing.

#

JJ was pacing around the hallway as David finished explaining her what they had found. "That could mean a lot of things", she was theorizing. "Infidelity, ilegal activities..."

"Strong motives for murder", David added.

JJ looked through the glass door to the second interrogation room. "The wife is here now. I'll have to be careful."

David sighed. "Best of luck."

JJ thanked him silently before clicking the "End" button, pulling the phone down her pocket and walking into the interrogation room, closing the door behind and subtly putting the blinds on.

Kelly had her hands claspes together, her hair a mess: she was almost frighteningly pale and kept staring absentmindedly into the corner, her lips quivering occasionally, followed by a few tears that would then roll down her cheek. She barely glanced at JJ as she introduced herself and more brushed her hand with the younger woman's instead of shaking it. JJ sighed silently before sitting on the couch and trying to meet Kelly's eyes.

No response.

"Look at me."

Kelly looked up at JJ. "What do you want?"

"I'm from FBI. We are on this case now. We have to ask you a few questions."

"I've already told everything to the local police."

"Sometimes thinking back of some things, talking about them again can help", JJ informed her. Kelly nodded her head, she had probably known all that, but wasn't impressed. "You could remember things that you didn't first time around. That could help us solve the case."

"You think?", Kelly commented sarcastically.

"Just... calm down", JJ said softly, thinking about holding the agent's hand. "Everything will be alright", she said assuringly.

"No, nothing will ever be alright again", Kelly snapped, slapping her head up fiercly and looking at JJ only for a moment before looking down at the floor weakily, her shoulders trembling. "They... they are gone."

"And we will find the person who harmed them."

"The person who killed them", Kelly mumbled and looked up at JJ again. "Who took them from me. Don't sugar coat this, bitch", she hissed before sulking again. "And if you do, what difference will that make?"

"He will go to prison", JJ said politely. "He will pay for what he did. And some other family will be spared the same faith", she said in a warm tone.

Kelly sighed and looked through a near by window longingly, blush coloring her tear stained cheeks. She almost looked even more defeated as she turned back to JJ. "OK", she said, her voice soar.

"Did you see anyone or anything suspicious near your house or in the neighborhood in the days prior to the murder?"

"No. I keep thinking everything over, analysists things. Looking for any sort of a clue. A sign. But I never find any." "In some way, that only makes it worse."

"It can really be something that seems almost completely irrelevant. The vehicle that you've never seen before, some Strange invitation..."

Kelly shook her head. "No. Sorry. Nothing like that."

"Did your husband seem distant lately? Any changes in his behavior?"

"No!", Kelly cried. "He was nice, carrying...", she lowered her head, her eyes watering up. "Like always."

"Any new friends he had made recently that you had known about?"

"No. We were both very dedicated to work... we would sometimes gang out with closest neighbors or coworkers."

"Do you have any enemies? Anyone who would want to hurt you?"

Kelly chuckled bitterly. "I have been working in gang division for seven years. I have plenty of enemies. But if you are asking me can I name anyone in particular, I can't. All the people involved in my shooting are under arrest."

A tense silence ensued. Kelly was tapping with her foot nervously, gritting her teeth. Eventually, she looked up at JJ, a look in her eyes almost pleading. "Did... did she suffer?" She swallowed a lump that had formed un her throat. "Was my little girl calling out for me?"

#

Both Derek and Aaron were trying hard not to show their disgust as they saw two COs leading a gang member, Jeffrey Hernandez, in the interview room. He was a tall stocky Hispanic man with short black hair and black eyes, and he smirked at them as they sat him down on the table and tied the handcuffs that he had had on his hands to an additional pair chained to the table.

"Mr. Hernandez, we are FBI agents Aaron Hotchner and Derek Morgan", Aaron said, introducing himself and his colleague. "We need to ask you a few questions."

A creepy smile crept up Jeffrey's lips. "It is about that Grey bitch, isn't it?" Aaron felt his insides twist. "I've heard it on the news. I guess it is true what they say, what goes around comes around", the suspect said before grinning.

Derek tried to remain cool. "It must have pissed you off. Her, arresting your men, which ultimately led to you being bought down."

Jeffrey shrugged. "One of my guys fired the bullet right above her pussy. Literally. Good enough for me." He was obviously enjoying the interrogation. "I sure have a respect for the person who did that, but I didn't. How could I? I am in prison."

"We know that you have connections", Aaron pointed out.

Jeffrey remained calm. "Not that powerful connections. Not anymore."

"If you have anything to do with this or have any information that may help us, tell us now", Aaron warned him. "That is your only chance of getting out of prison alive."

Jeffrey leaned over, a look in his eyes the one of a full anger. His face was covered with drops of sweat. "You want the information?", he whispered, his voice sinister. "Whoever is doing this is smarter than you. And this is just the beginning. Prepare to suffer." He leaned back, breathing heavily. "CO, the door!", he yelled.

They knew that was all they were going to get from him.

#

"The autopsies are done", David exclaimed as he walked into the conference room. Everyone else was already there, sitting around the table, despite the fact that the night had been approaching. Spencer was sorting files while Derek was examining the voice analysis reports. "The last victim, Rachel, was definitely chloroformed before being murdered. A piece of fabric matching to the bed sheet used to cover her was found inside her wound." He sat down at the table.

Derek frowned. "Strange. He went much easier on her. Like he is progressing backwards."

"Maybe she had some sort of a significance to him."

"Any luck with the forensics?", David asked, turning towards Aaron.

"Still in progress."

"So far I have found ten people related to Lou's career that I think are good suspects."

"Has the stalker contacted Lou again?", Spencer asked.

Aaron shook his head. "Not yet. And I don't think that Jeffrey Hernandez is behind it either. He sounded more hopeful in regards to the murders continuing than proud. And he had barely had any visitors during his incarceration."

"Kelly is obviously hurt, but I don't think she had a clue about her husband's secret activities, whatever those were", JJ said.

Derek's ringtone went off. He pulled out his phone and, upon seeing that it was Garcia, immediately answered.

"What do you have, mama?", Derek asked in a sweet voice. Penelope smiled.

"All you need, chocolate storm", Garcia flirted, smirking. "Well, almost all. I'm checking the victim's computers. Nothing suspicious, no threats, no signs of hacking. It took me almost disrespectfully little time to figure out the code to that hidden phone. A reverse birthday as a password-little smarter than usual, but not smart enough."

Derek put her on speaker and laid hid smartphone down on the table.

"Fifty phone calls in two month period, all made to the one person. Jeanine Kamps, thirty eight, his co worker. And many texts that are very intimate in nature. And get this: she was convicted of assaulting her boyfriend in 2004. Bad girl."

Aaron stood up. "We are going to bring her in. Thank you, Garcia."

"Sure!"

#

A young brown haired woman rushed frantically up the stairs, crying in terror, the elusive figure dressed in black running after her. She stopped at the top of the stairs, picked up the vase from a near by cupboard and threw it at her attacker, but missed. The attacker shot at her, grazing her left arm.

She cried, burning pain piercing through her, and held at the wound before turning around and running down the hallway, towards the bedroom, the unsub on her track. She was thinking about her fiance, her parents. What would they do without her?

Just as she was about to reach the door, she tripped on the carpet and fell on the floor face down, her head bumping against the surface.

She moaned, her eyesight burry for a moment. It took her a few moments to register the footsteps approaching her... then they stopped.

"Please", she cried, too afraid to look back and too weak to stand up. "Don't..."

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, because the unsub had fired a bullet to the back of her head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.
> 
> I forgot to include the details about the unsub taking the victim's wedding rings as trophies. Sorry. I've edited chapter one.

Jeanine looked at the two FBI agents sitting beside her in an interrogation room almost mockingly, as if she didn't get what was all the attention about, not quite comprehending that anyone would think of her as a murder suspect. "You think that I murdered Samuel and his daughter?", she asked, almost scoffing as she finished her sentence. "Why?"

"We have found his cellphone", JJ exclaimed, raising her eyebrows at Jeanine. His other cellphone."

Jeanine flinched, swallowing a lump that had instantly formed in her throat. JJ glared at her. "It looks like you two had... quite a connection. Maybe he wanted out. And you couldn't take it."

"You assaulted your boyfriend once", Derek reminded her.

Jeanine grimaced at him, shifting in her seat. "That was long time ago!", she spat. "I would never hurt Samuel or Rachel?"

Derek was tapping with his pen against the notepad. "But you admit to having an affair with him?"

Jeanine leaned back in her seat. "I wouldn't call it an affair." She trailef her fingers down her hair. "We were... close. Flirting at times. It was fun. His wife was quite busy... I guess he needed an outlet", she said, shrugging.

JJ wasn't entirely convinced. "And you agreed to being just that? An outlet?"

Jeanine crossed her arms over her chest. "I am not the type for a serious relationship." She frowned. "Samuel loved Kelly. He would never be with another woman. But he was having a hard time, a weakness, and I wanted fun."

"Did you ever sleep together?", JJ asked carefully.

"We made out once, but that is all."

"It was serious enough for him to hide that second cellphone in an air vent in the master's bedroom", Derek pointed out. "Did you know about that?"

Jeanine let out a chuckle. "No, but that sounds like Samuel. He was always so careful. Borderline obsessive. Typical overreaction."

"Where were you yesterday between eight and eleven pm?", Derek asked.

Jeanine frowned. "At home. Finishing some paperwork, watching TV."

JJ glared at her. "Alone?"

"Yes", Jeanine hissed.

"And nine days ago? Between seven and nine pm?", Derek asked.

Jeanine shuddered. "I don't know. Also home alone, I guess."

JJ tilted her head at the side. "Things aren't looking well for you", she said, writing something on the notepad as she did and trying to sound convincing.

"I didn't do it! Search my house, car or whatever! You can't pin this on me."

At that moment, the door leaned over. Derek and JJ turned in the direction of the side, while Jeanine shot a dark look at the near by camera. Aaron stepped partially inside, a look on his face serious and concerned, slight beams under his eyes. "We have another one", he said.

#

Aaron felt his gut wretch as he stood in front of the young black haired Caucasian man who was sitting in an armchair in the living room, his hands shaking as he was desperately trying to calm himself down and answer the older man's question. Just a few feet away, upstairs, laid the body of the woman who meant so much to him, surrounded by Spencer and JJ. "This is the owner of the house?", he asked, gazing sympathetically at him.

"Yes", JJ exhaled. "Eric Smith, thirty two. Joined the FBI a year ago."

Derek walked over, taking another look at the body. "Who's the victim?", he adked.

"Hillary Truby, thirty year old, Eric's fiancee", JJ said. "Wedding scheduled in two months. Engagement ring missing. Was killed about an hour ago, which rules our Jeanine."

Spencer studied the blood splatters on the wall sadly. "Technically not a family. No protection."

"Well, the unsub was only killing wives and children until now", Derek pointed out. "He stepped up his game", he mumbled.

"He is escalating too", JJ noted, eyes flowing over the victim's wounds. "He pistol whipped her post mortem." She turned facing Spencer. "Eric had no other family?"

Spencer shook his head. "Not here. His parents live in Arizona. His younger brother lives in New York."

"Maybe the unsub figured out that we are on to him, that we started providing police protections, and moved on to closest substitute in order to avoid capture", Derek suggested.

Spencer disagreed. "Unlikely. The story just recently made the press." "He is operating under some sort of a plan. But which one?"

JJ looked around helplessly. "And how is he finding his victims?"

Derek looked down at the partially opened front door leading in to the hallway. "And once again, there are no traces of breaking in", he noticed."The victim let him in. How does he do it?"

"He could be a mailman, or even a police officer", Spencer suggested.

"There are no matching routes connecting all the victims", JJ noted.

"He could be posing as one", Derek theorized.

Spencer bit his lower lip before taking another quick look at the crime scene overall. "I know, but still... something about this whole thing seems off."

"Can we rule out the possibility that the killer is somebody from the FBI?"

"I'm afraid not. But again, as far as we were able to find, there were no matching cases between Lou and Key. Eric works in the same unit as Lou, but he doesn't remember working with him on the same case or something. Garcia is checking the records now."

"They all have spotless careers. Not even a single claim of police brutality or involvement in a questionable investigation."

Derek took another look at the scene. "There are signs of a struggle. Maybe she grew suspicious. The unsub was chasing her up the stairs."

JJ looked to the side. "And finished her off."

#

Spencer was pacing around his bedroom, lights in there dimmed. He had a phone pressed against his ear and still didn't get arounf to changing into his pajamas. "Honestly, I am kind of worried, Spencer." Dorian's voice invaded his mind, making him flinch. She was sitting on the couch in her living room, often looking at the patrole car parked in front of her house. "Sure, my job isn't the safest job there is, but I am rarely a possible direct target... especially not the one of a person I know nothing about."

"I understand you, but believe me, everything will be OK. We are working hard on this one and the cops are well informed about the situation. Nothing will happen to you."

Dorian smiled slightly, looking away from the window. "With you on the case, I'd bet they'll catch him quickly."

Spencer chuckled. "Right."

There was a short silence, neither of them saying a word, as if expecting the other to say something neither had enough courage to hear or say yet.

"When all of this is over...", Dorian spoke, then stopped, running her hand through her hair.

"What?", Spencer asked, feeling goose bumps go up the back of his neck.

Dorian sighed. "Nothing, forget it."

"You can tell me", Spencer tried.

Dorian squirmed, taking a remote in her hand as in some desperate need for support. "I've been thinking... maybe we could go have a dinner together."

Spencer smiled, feeling spasms go up his throat. "That sounds nice", he said. "I'd like that."

Dorian blushed. "Good. We'll see."

He remained standing there for full seven minutes before the call had ended, relaxing the words in his hand, and went to sleep.

#

It was eleven pm once JJ climbed in the bad, wearing her nightgown. Will was already there, lying down on his side of the bed covered up to his neck but not sleeping. JJ sighed and laid her head on his chest, staring uncertainly in front of her.

"Is Henry asleep?", Will asked softly.

"Sound asleep", the blonde confirmed.

Will turned his head to the side to look at the near by driveway. The patrole car was parked there. He wondered was the police officer inside able to see them.

"Sometimes I wonder...", JJ started silently, more to herself, making Will look back forward, "maybe I could just... spare you all the possible dangers..." She started circling with her hand over her husband's stomach. "Quit... find a more... peaceful job..."

"JJ..."

"I know that there is no such thing as a complete safety", she said, with more attention, "but still..."

Will wrapped his hands around his wife's shoulders, making her flinch. "JJ... everything will be all right." He placed a kiss on her forehead.

#

Even by eleven pm, David was still sitting at the writing desk in his living room, behind a big bookcase, in front of his laptop, a glass of scotch on one side and a notepad on the other. He took a sip of his drink before reading, once again, what he had written so far.

The night was dark and cold. Emmal was looking through the window...

David groaned and deleted the text, then continued staring at the screen. Nothing good was coming to his mind.

#

The next morning, however, came sooner than any of them had expected. And it was surprisingly busy.

Spencer sat next to JJ, who was just finishing her cup of Tea. He briefly glanced at the tech in front of the computer before turning to look at her. They were in Lou Rivers's home, early sun beams peeking through the windows.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?", he asked, silently.

"We don't have any other leads, don't we?", she replied solemnly. "There were no foreign fingerprints found on neither crime scenes, no foreign DNA..."

Spencer was about to say something, but stopped upon hearing the resident approaching. Lou looked at them tiredly as he sat at the table, a coffee mug in his hand. His hair was a mess and his face was grimaced. "Any calls?", he asked in a soar voice, already knowing the answer.

"No", JJ answered sadly. Lou said nothing and took a sip of coffee.

At that moment, the phone rang. Lou shivered, his eyes widening, and quickly lowered his coffee mug. One of the tech guys was siganling him, making sure that the Caller will wait until everything is in place. Once he nodded his head, Lou picked up the phone, his hand shaking, and answered, his voice a mixture of thrill and desperation: "Hallo?"

"How's your family doing, Lou?"  
"You son of a bitch, what did you do to them?!", Lou cried, his face flushed with rage as he gripped at the phone tightly. The man at the other end laughed maliciously, obviously enjoying in the other man's suffering. Tears started streaming down Lou's faca and he gritted his teeth.

A short silence. The tech guy pressed a few buttons on the monitoring device. Spencer adjusted his headphones. "You know what I did to them, Lou", the man said tauntingly. You saw it."

"I'm going to kill you!", Lou spat out, ignoring the other agents's signs.

"Feel free to do that, if you are able to find me", the man said calmly. "I'll still have a head score", he said mockingly before hanging up.

"Hallo?", Lou cried as the mechanic sound kept echoing painfully in his mind. "Hallo?" He hanged up and buried his face in his hands, sobs soon filling the room. The tech guy leaned over to Spencer and JJ, who took their headphones on.

"The call was too short. We were only able to find out that it had been made somewhere in. I ran the number. Another burner."

JJ sighed. "Another dead end."

Spencer frowned. "Maybe not. Can you play the recording, please?"

The tech guy did as asked as Spencer put his headphones back on. Spencer was listening carefully, paying attention to every nose. He turned towards the tech once the recording had ended.

"Can you isolate the background noise, please?"

The tech nodded his head and did as asked. Lou drained his coffee mug while JJ was studying the monitor. Spencer was listening to the recording carefully.

"A foreign language", she concluded.

Spencer frowned. "Persian, I think. Sometimes small communities keep in touch over the radiowaves." He bit his lip. "Play it again, please."

The tech did so. Spencer scratched his head.

"There are... vibrations in that sound", he noted. "Like it is coming from a radio."

JJ moved away. "There can't be that many places a Quantico where you can catch that station on the radio."

"But there was also some slight background noise, albeit muffled", the tech pointed out. "Maybe our guy was calling from some sort of an establishment."

Spencer reached for his phone. "I have to tell Garcia about this. She'll find something."

#

Clyde Shaw smirked as he looked back at Aaron and David, his hands pressed against the edges of the table. He was a short and stocky man, his hair a mess and his eyes dark. They were patiently waiting for him to start, trying not to show any emotion at all.

"Has poor Lou gotten upset over some things that I've said?", he asked sarcastically and grinned.

"He is upset over what happened to his family", Aaron answered calmly, giving Clyde an icy stare.

Clyde shrugged. "I guess that's true. But they are better off dead with a father like that."

"You're a coward", David snapped back.

Clyde didn't seem upset. "And you're helpless", he said.

"We have you on stalking charges", Aaron pointed out. "You would disguse your voice while making the calls, but the voice analysts still managed to match it with yoir voice sample."

Clyde shrugged. "No problem. I'll be out in a couple of years."

"You'll die in prison after being found guilty of the murders that you have committed."

Clyde smirked. "But you can't prove that, can you?"

David looked into Clyde's eyes. "We know why, Clyde. Your brother was convicted of rape in 2004. Still in prison. Lou arrested him, got him to confess. Funny part is, the FBI was called in just in case. There was quite a lot gang related crimes in the area at the time, local police didn't want to take any chances."

"If you had been more careful, we wouldn't have found her. Once we narrowed down on the area from where you were calling and cross matched the establishments there with the data we had, and focused on middle aged Caucasian men from the area, there you were."

David leaned over, trying to sound interested. "We want to know this: how were you able to find Lou? And his family?"

Clyde furrowed his eyebrows after putting his hands on his knees. "He would show up on all of my brother's parole hearings. I wasn't allowed to attend them, but I was being informed, by him, when they would take place. So, the last time he had a parole hearing, I was waiting near the prison and followed him when he was returning home."

"And then you murdered them", Aaron said, trying to sound convinced.

"If you say so", Clyde said smugly.

"Who was murdered first?", Aaron asked.

Clyde's face fell, his jaw turning clenched. "What?"

"You murdered two families. Multiple people. In what order."

"I'm done talking to you."

"Come on, Clyde", David taunted him. "After so much effort..."

"I'm done talking to you."

Aaron and David exchanged one look before going outside, closing the door behind. They approached Derek.

"He is almost certainly our unsub", Derek pointed out.

"Probably", Aaron agreed. "But... something is off", he concluded, looking through the one way mirror. "Have you seen how much he was gloating? How aggressive he was?" He looked back at his colleagues. "There is no way that he would be able to wait for nine days before calling Lou back, if he had done something so hurtful as murdering his family."

"He found out about the murders from the news and decided to taunt Lou", David assumed.

"And he avoided answering who he had murdered first", Aarok added.

"Yes, but he hasn't admitted to the murders either."

At that moment, JJ walked over with a file in her hand. All the faces turned towards her. "Ballistics report", she explained. "Glock doesn't match to the weapon used to commit the murders. No traces of gunshot residue or blood anywhere on his clothing or in his car."

David took the file that JJ had handed him. "We have him on stalking charges, but I think there is more to this murder case."

"Maybe he had an accomplice", JJ suggested.

Aaron shook his head. "All the case components point to the single unsub."

Derek pulled out his phone at the sounds coming from his pocket. He answered the call, instantly putting Garcia on the speaker. "Baby girl, whats up?"

"A lot of it. I found no connection between the agents, but there is one Strange... details." She took a long breath. "A cleaning lady who worked here, Daniele Heffernan, died two months ago. Apparently, she committed suicide. Gunshot wound to the head, with her own gun. Her friend found her. In a suicide note, she wrote that she decided to end this due to a recent break up with her boyfriend."

"The FBI wasn't involved in the investigation?", Aaron asked.

Penelope adjusted her eyeglasses. "The local police was originally on the case. All the evidence pointed to the suicide. A single gunshot wound to her righ temple. Families and friends confirmed that she was right handed. No other injuries on the body, nothing under her fingernails, all tox screens clean. Her fingerprints on the gun, gunshot residue on her hand. Suicide letter typed on her computer and printer, only her fingerprints on the keyboard and the paper. The FBI was informed. They checked her work sheet, surveillance footages, but found nothing suspicious. So nobody looked more into it."

"Despite everything, that is suspicious", David agreed.

"Yes! And the M.E. put the time of death between four and five pm. She normally went to work before, cleaned the hallways, the cafeteria, the therapist offices... one would think that a person would commit suicide before having to do all that."

Suddenly, JJ's eyes widened. She licked her lips and looked at the door on the opposite side of the hallway.

"Wait..."

"What?", Derek asked.

JJ turned back towards the agents. "Lou and his family were receiving dead threats. Kelly was shot recently. Eric Smith was under stress." "Maybe they were undergoing therapy sessions."

Aaron turned to face Derek. "Derek, JJ, go to Daniele's house. The rest will go search the offices."

#

Derek just finished going through Daniele's kitchen, having found nothing that could help them solve the case. He walked into the living room, seeing JJ drop one of the magazines back down on the coffee table and looking down the hallway. "Nothing suspicious here", she said before he could.

"If Daniele was in the tow with the unsub, she was doing a very good job of hiding it."

"Or he removed all the evidence after killing her."

"Look at this."

Derek widened his eyes. "What?"

"Scuff marks. They look fresh", JJ said as she started following the trial, followed by Derek. He groaned as they stared walking down the stairs, still concentrated on the marks on the floor.

"They lead into the basement."

JJ opened the door, and she and Derek walked inside, closing the door behind. The room was small, dark and smelled of dust. JJ noticed a long line on the floor and stepped forward. The marks ended in front of the big white device in the corner.

"Down to this freezer", JJ gasped, looking up. Derek lifted the lid up and looked inside. He felt his insides twists at the sight of slight blood smears on the inside of the lid.

"The unsub murdered her and placed the body in the freezer to stop the decomposition and lower the body temperature."

"After he pulled her out, the body temperature was reduced to the one the recently deceased person would have."

"And there were no frost bites, since she was already dead."

#

The therapist's office was surprisingly nice looking: a big leather couch to the side, a big mahogany desk at te middle, with computer and several books placed on it, nice bookcase near by and a framed diploma hanging on the wall. It was hard to believe that, in that place, people have been telling their darkest secrets for years, and that somebody somehow managed to access them and use them to cut a bloody path through Quantico. Spencer finished putting another book back on the shelf, having found nothing suspicious on it, and moved on to the dictionary on the opposite side. David was going through the papers on the writing desk, and Aaron studied the couch cushions and then the potted plant near by from the both sides, without finding anything useful.

"I am not getting anything", David admitted, stepping away from the desk.

"Me neither", Aaron chimmed in, looking around.

"Maybe our unsub somehow gained access to the case files", Spencer suggested, putting the dictionary down.

Aaron looked closely to the file cabinet. "That would be pretty risky. And this is a good lock, yet there is no damage on it at all."

Spencer scanned the office once again, trying hard to notice anything out of the ordinary, or at least the area that he had missed. His eyes landed on the framed on the wall as a curious look flashed in his eyes.

"The diploma."

Aaron and David turned to face him, taken aback. Spencer was moving the chair towards the area on the wall where the document was hanging. "Help me take it off!"

Realizing what he had meant, two older agents helped him, handing the object carefully. They placed it on the desk and started examining it from all sides, sliding their fingers against the surface and tapping at the glass.

"There are slight holes drilled in the glass... barely noticeable...", Spencer noticed.

David pulled out the pocket knife and carefully loosened the wood around the glass, that he then carefully removed with Aaron's help and placed it on the chair in the corner. They carefully removed the diploma from the frame and put it aside, gasping at the site on the bottom of the frame.

"A listening device", Aaron exclaimed.

"It looks like a high quality one", David noted. "Would have worked even behind the paper and the glass."

"Especially if there are holes to the glass", David added.

Spencer continued, "He was secretly recording the sessions. For months."

"And since the agents were seeing different therapists and the unsub had all the offices wired, Garcia wasn't able to find the connection."

Spencer examined the listening device closely. "That is how the killer was able to locate the families. He would find out the patient's names, their spouse's and children's names, maybe even the neighborhoods they lived in. With that information it would be easy to find their profiles on social media sites and, with some research and campusing the neighborhood, find their addresses."  
Spencer heard a buzzing sound coming from near by. He picked up his tablet from the desk and read the notification. "The division did keep the security footages taken the day Daniele committed suicide, just in case. Garcia just sent them to us", he said, walking over to Aaron and David. "Let's watch."

They watched a black and white recording featuring the hallways. A woman dressed in cleaning lady uniform that resembled Daniele was going back and forth throughout the building, but none of the footages had a nice view of her face.

"She is moving her head away from the cameras", Spencer noted.

"Because that isn't Daniele at all", Aarom implied.

"Daniele was murdered. And the unsub was somehow able to get in using pass card", David added.

"Meaning that our unsub is likely a woman", Aaron concluded.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own amy of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.
> 
> Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.
> 
> I can't find JJ's exact birthday, so I have put February 19th, if somebody knows, feel free to correct me.
> 
> References: Daniel Milworth, a budging serial killer, aka "The Caller", from the episode 9x10 "The Caller", and the cult "Forever People" from the episode 10x11 "The Forever People".
> 
> Just a reminder: in season ten finale, JJ was revealed to be pregnant.

Soon, all the team members were back in the conference room, sitting around the table and trying to link all those newly found informations into a meanigful picture. Spencer just finished reading one of the files and Aaron took a sip of water.

"The unsub tried to convince Daniele to obtain information for her, plant the listening devices", Derek was reasoning. "Probably threatened her, offered her money. Daniele refused, there was a struggle, Daniele pulled out the gun, the unsub got an upper hand and killed her."

"She put the body in the freezer in order to conceal the right time of death, disguised herself as Daniele and went to work using her pass card. She then went back to the house and estaged suicide."

"How was she even able to find about Daniele? Where Daniele worked."

"They could have known each other, but we didn't find anything suspicious in her life."

"The FBI database is well secured and it would be hard, if not impossible, to hack into it without alerting attention or living a trace. But it would be much easier, especially for an experienced hacker, to hack into a local employment bureau or a delivery service. Garcia is checking the records now."

And that was when he received a call from her.

She started talking before he even put her on a speaker phone.

"Hello, my pet peeves!" She quickly turned serious. "Anyway, our hacker did a good job of hacking into an employment bureau. But I got an IP address. I was able to trace it back to a local library. I did some more digging and, brilliant as I am, found a clue. There was a parking ticket written for the car parked near the cafe at the same day system was hacked, at the approximate time. The car was registered to thirty eight year old Selma Rain. In 2009 she was convicted of hacking into her boss's personal computer as well as into the computers belonging to several of her co workers. Got five years. Was released from prison a year ago."

"So, she wouldn't be allowed to use Internet. She had to use a public computer."

"Not really", Penelope cringed. "Selma was found dead in her house two months ago, murdered by a blunt force trauma to the head." The agents exchanged glances as Penelope continued. "The police was looking into her crime, her cellmates, didn't get anywhere so they wrote it off as a burglary gone wrong. The house was ransacked, valuables were missing. Apparently they didn't find out about the ticket or didn't consider that to be important since I don't see any mention of it in the reports. Also, I've tried locating the spot to where the devices had been transporting signal, but it it is bouncing back and forth against several low frequencies real fast."

"The unsub used her to gain access to the employee list and to obtain the listening device, to learn how to manage them, and then murdered her in order to cover up her tracks", David concluded. "Since she was a woman, probably a young one, the victims didn't feel threatened and would open her the door."

"I'll keep researching about her cellmates, maybe I will find something", Penelope promised, already typing something away.

Derek smiled. "Thank you, mama." Penelope grinned to herself before ending the call and getting back to her work. At that moment, Joan stood up, grabbing her purse.

"I have to go", she said. "I have a doctor's appointment."

Aaron just nodded his head, having already been aware of that. " OK. We'll keep you posted."

JJ nodded and headed for the exit.

"You need a ride?", Derek asked.

"No, I can handle it. Also, there is a police patrteeth block away and another one in front of my house."

Spencer frowned, all the pieces of puzzle falling into place. "Can handle it..." He looked away from the door, excited. "Maybe our unsub is a mercy killer."

He met eyes with Aaron.

"All the families were going through the hard time. Lou and his family were receiving dead threats. Kelly got shot. Eric was under stress. Maybe the unsub wanted to spare them the further anguish caused by the parental figure who is an FBI agent."

Derek considered it. "A single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Quick and relatively painless."

David was deep in thoughts. "Children die first. They don't have to watch their loved ones die."

"Then the others, up to the oldest member", Spencer said.

"Because, in her mind, the oldest ones are the most responsible", Aaron finished.

Derek leaned back in his chair. "Well, most of serial killers develop their compulsions due to the events within their close environment. Usually a family."

"And mostly in their childhood too", Aaron added. "Which is another reason why she would identify herself with the daughter."

"I am going to call Garcia, tell her to look into any serious incidenta involving FBI agents who had daughters dating up to twenty years back." He pulled out hid phone. "Of course, we can't know was it an incident similar to these murders that triggered the unsub's psychosis or was it an unreported abuse or a long term neglicence due to a job, but it is worth a try."

JJ sighed tiredly as she sat at the driver's seat and fastened the seat belt. She was about to start the engine when she saw a figure raise up from the back seat. She felt her stomach sink and, suppressing a gasp, reached for her gun, but just when her fingers touched the holster, she felt a tight grip on her hand. Her other fist clenched, but she sat still upon seeing the gun being pointed to the back of her head.

JJ gulped and met eyes, in the mirror, with a young red haired woman behind her. The assailant was wearing dark baggy jacket and had black leather gloves over her hands, and her mouth moved into a grotesque smile.

"Now, you will be a good girl and do exactly what I say."

#

Meanwhile, everyone else in the BAU remained calm and oblivious of what was really happening a short distance away. Well, everyone except for Spencer. After pulling his phone back down his pocket, he looked up at the rest of the agents, an almost panicked expression on his face. "I think I've discovered something."

Everyone just stared at him, waiting for him to continue. It took him a few seconds to realize that. "Lou Rivers was born on January 25th 1968. Kelly was born on January 21st 1975. Eric on February 18th 1980."

"That could be a pattern that our unsub is sticking to", David said.

Spencer looked at Aaron, his face pale. "And JJ was born on February 19th."

Aaron remained calm. "That doesn't mean that he will instantly go after her family."

"Yes, but I tried calling her on her private phone, and home phone... she isn't answering." He looked around. "And... she started attending counceling... after what happened with the Forever People."

Derek and David exchanged a glance. Aaron quickly pulled out his phone and called the police officer assigned to look after JJ. The seconds felt like hours, and once he got a hold of him, Aaron felt a mixture of fear.

"Hallo?"

"Is JJ home yet?", Hotch asked, avoiding to look at his team mates.

"I don't know, ask her", answered nonchallantly, and all the color left Aaron's face.

"How do you mean?", he almost yelled.

"She called the protection off", answered, confused.

"Both the one here and the one at home?"

"Yes. Said that you've caught the guy."

Aaron ended the call without further explanation and went to take his coat. Others stood up, looking at him with a sense of dread. "We have to go over to her house!", he ordered. "Something is wrong."

#

Black SUV was flowing down tje street, getting closer to each destintation with every torturous moment. The blonde's eyes kept gazing back and forth, desperarely looking for, but finding none. "How did you manage to break inJ?", words escaped JJ's lips, making Kaley scoff.

"Typical FBI agent. Even in times like this..." But she couldn't help but gloat. "Let's say that, A) I've done my homework and B) I have a friend who taught me some things." She looked through the window for a moment. "Well, I had. She was a liability, had to be eliminated. Nice girl... such a shame." Her voice turned stern again. "But it was for a greater good."

JJ was on the verge of tears as a horrific realization sinked in. "You... you only target families", she said as her fingernails dug into the steering wheel. "And you are careful. You have barely left any clues." She shivered as the tears rolled down her face. "But you allow me to see your face."

Kaley grinned. "I detest changing my habits, but I have to, honey. You're pregnant."

JJ's eyes turned blurry, but she was still able to see her house at the side of the road. She slowly pulled into the driweway, feeling her breathing hitch. Kaley chuckled. "Now go out. Nice and slowly..."

#

Aaron was driving as fast as possible, doing his best to avoid the incomming cars and red lights.

"Garcia tried tracking JJ's phone and her car through the GPS system, but something is blocking the signal", Derek explained. It was then that his ringtone went off: he pulled out his phone and immediately answered the call, putting Garcia on the speaker.

"OK, I've widened my search and found a person of interest."

"Talk to us."

"Kaley Green. Born on February 27th, 1985 in San Francisco, to a father, Liam, and a mother, Katy. She had an older sister, Greta. Her father, was an FBI agent in a division specialized in sex crimes. No incidents... once the police arrived at their home due to an argument. Katy tried getting Liam move to the desk job or quit the job, things went out of hand. And..." Penelope stopped as she read the incomming information, her jaw almost hitting the floor. "Oh my God... on September 17th 1997 a child molester that Liam had arrested in 1992, Alan Sayer, murdered a CO and the driver while being transported to a near by City where he was to stand trial for another crime. He took the COs gun with him. He first abducted and tortured a local ADA who knew Liam's address and evebtually provided it to him. Alan then murdered him and broke into Liam's house during dinner time and shot Katy and Greta multiple times in front of Kaley, killing them, and shot Liam non fatally." She quickly started typing something again. "Liam managed to gun him down. Soon after the incident he retired and moved with Kaley to Wisconsin. At the age of twenty two, after graduating college, she moved to Quantico, but judging by the phone records they kept in touch. Liam died of a heart attack three months ago."

"That must have been her trigger", Aaron concluded.

"And she committed her first murder on the anniversary of her family massacre", Spencer added.

"Liam had been suffering from depression throughout his life, that seemed to have increased as Kaley was growing older and dropped slightly once she moved away", Penelope added.

David's face went pale. "She was psychologically abusing him. Blaming him for what happened to her mother and sister."

"Such cruelty isn't typical for angels of death", Derek noted.

"She is in part an Angel of death, in part the sadist, similar to Daniel Milworth, "The Caller"", Spencer said. "She is murdering the families in order to spare them the suffering and in order to hurt the agents who created their families and therefore created the possiblity of the family getting hurt. She came to enjoy watching her father suffer. In her mind such turmoil is probably worse than death."

David continued. "Judging by his amount of work, he was likely absent often before and she had probably formed a stronger bond with her mother and sister. They tried convincing him to change the job, but he wouldn't listen. And then the worst possible scenario happened and Kaley witnessed it. And her father was later receiving empathy from his friends and neighbors and colleagues and was celebrated as a hero for killing the child molester and saving his daughter. Such experience must have left her psychologically damaged. That is why she is targeting families who already have problems. Or, at least, members who are FBI agents do. And she isn't interested in parents or siblings. She is targeting families that the agents themselves have created,or are planning to create, because she can relate to them."

"What was her father's birthday?", Spencer asked.

"January 25th 1962. And her father's official weapon was Glock 9mm."

David's face fell. "Which explains her weapon of choice."

"It wouldn't surprise me if she is using the exact same gun while committing the killings", Aaron said.

Penelope nodded her head. "She inherited it, as well as all of her father's possession, after his death. She owns a blue SUV. And she owns a gallery, so she would be able to... you know... plant the device in the frame without leaving much clue. I am sending you her home and work address now!"

"It looks like we'll have to go there later", Aaron snapped back.

"Aaand in 2013 she was convicted of an assault, sentenced to a year in prison. Selma Rain was her cellmate the whole time."

Derek ended the call and put the phone away. Aaron took a deep breath.

One more block. David already pulled out his gun. Then Derek. Spencer took his revolver in hand and looked at it with heavy eyes, something aching in his chest.

JJ's house. Spencer's heart skipped a beat.

Aaron stepped on the breaks.

They got out of the car, closing the door behind.

They started walking toward the front door. One step. Second step. Third step. Aaron wrapped his hand around the door knob. Spencer rushed over. Derek was already there.

They opened the door and rushed inside, with the guns pointed.

JJ, Will and Henry were lying on the floor on their knees, turned with their back against the wall, their wrists bind and their mouth gagged.

Luckily, they were alive.

David and Spencer rushed over to help them, while Derek and Aaron rushed toward the back door, catching a glimpse of an unsub running outside.

Spencer pulled the gag out of Henry's mouth and hugged him. Derek did the same to Will, who gasped. Spencer then rushed over to JJ and released her too. She was barely even crying, just shaking and staring at him, still in shock.

"Please take me to the doctor", she whispered.

"I will", Spencer replied, choking back tears.

"My baby... my baby has to be OK." Tears started running down her face. "I hope that she is OK..." Spencer wrapped her into a tight hug, testing his chin against her shoulder, while Derek helped Will stand up.

"Everything will be OK, JJ. Everything will be OK."

Meanwhile, Aaron and Derek were chasing Kaley down the street. Aaron was having a head start, though Derek was doing his best to catch up to him. Kaley was still ten feet ahead. "Kaley Green, stop!", Derek repeated.

Kaley stopped, turned towards them and fired, but only managed to hit a near by wall. Aaron fired at her, but only hit a near by telephone stool. Aaron managed to run accross the street, but when Derej was about to do the same, a long truck started driving by.

Derek sighed, panting, and looked away. That didn't look good.

Kaley rushed into a near by building, that was abandoned. She managed to get a head start by throwing a trash can in front of Aaron, startling him for a moment. By the time he rushed inside, she was already on the first floor.

And soon the second. And the third. But he was always close after her.

By the fourth floor, she thought that she had caught a break. He was nowhere to be seen, and she rushed into one of the abandoned apartments, deciding to confuse Aaron by escaping down the fire stairs.

But before she was even able to get to the window, she felt somebody stand behind her.

She saw a shadow of a man pointing the gun at her. "Stop, Kaley."

So she stopped, and slowly turned to face him.

"Let me see your hands", Aaron said, since Kaley's hands were in her pockets: she was probably playing with him.

"I saved them", she said calmly.

Aaron was indifferent to that. "Hands, Kaley." He didn't hear Derek also rushing up the stairs.

"You of all people should know... special agent Aaron Hotchner."

Aaron froze. "For the last time, Kaley."

Kaley took a ste closer. And another one. Aaron was unable to get a clear look at her hands. He put his finger on the trigger,

"I've done my homework", Kaley informed him, then pouted. "Poor Haley."

"Hands."

Kaley licked her lips and lowered her face. She stopped a mere inch away from Hotch. "I think that, while she was dying there in pain, certainly thinking that that moster was going cut your precious little boy to the ribbons as soon as she would take her last breath, the last thing going through her mind was: "I wish I have never married him! This is all his fault!"" She tilted her head to the side as Aaron's face was red with rage. "Do you ever think that way, agent Hotchner?"

Meanwhile, Derek was approaching fast, with his gun drawn.

One step. Another step. Two steps at the time.

Then, a gunshot.

Derek stopped in his tracks for a moment, cold chill rushing through his body, before continuing to climb up, floor after floor, even faster, checking every room, until finally, he realized with a shock, reaching their destination on the fifth floor.

Aaron was sitting on the couch, shaking, staring at the floor. A few feet away, on the floor, laid Kaley's lifeless body, blood oozing around the gunshot wound to her chest.

Aaron's gun was laying on the couch near by.

Kaley's was nowhere to be seen.

Aaron looked up and turned towards Derek, face pale and eyes watery. He tried to say something, but the words couldn't come out.

Derek lowered his gun and sighed sadly.

~THE END~

A/N: I know, I know... a cliffhanger! But I will write a sequel very soon, I promise! And probably explain some case details from this story further, such as Kaley managing to break into JJ's car.

Also, I promise that I won't put the characters through angst too much.

Until the next time, readers :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know, I know... a cliffhanger! But I will write a sequel very soon, I promise! And probably explain some case details from this story further, such as Kaley managing to break into JJ's car.
> 
> Also, I promise that I won't put the characters through angst too much.
> 
> Until the next time, readers :)


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